M Λ D _ C H Λ D

41. Häerz Castle - Keep

BOOK TWO

THE SEAL OF THE SPHINX

Flora’s scent was vexingly recognizable.

The memory of it pointed nowhere. But its familiarity remained.

Who is she? he asked Pietr.

I’m afraid I d...

40. Barograd - Keep

Redmane strode down the broad street leading from Church Town to Barograd Keep with his followers behind him.

There was the Justiciar Vella, her careworn garments and wild hair giving her the look of the beastmen she’d infiltrated. As she ...

39. Soulspace - The Seal of the Manticore

—

Skill Evolved

Omnivore —> Devourer

Devourer

Bloodline Skill (Monstrous)

Rank 1 - Evolution Possible

Passive

Rank 0:

-The Monster derives s...

38. Soulspace - The Seal of the Manticore

Corpus: 4042

Half of that huge stock of vitality gone in one strike.

It was as he feared.

One more mistake and he’d be dead. Another corpse for the endless pile.

The Manticore took a few steps forward, un...

37. Soulspace - Konungur Keep

Redmane stared at a huge portrait of Sencis Karalis, the First of His Name, King of the Stahlmen and the Omeni and the Tribes of Volos.

He saw a resemblance.

Their faces were identical, save a few important details. First, the King di...

36. Häerz Castle - Undercroft

Magister Helmold had to be very careful.

He’d go in the dead of night, when no one was down in the kitchen. The castle undercroft should be entirely empty at that time, save for a peasant or two acting as temporary castle guards. Valtr and...

35. Barograd - Church Town

Pietr, High Priest of Kraal, stood a full head taller than either of the priests flanking him, perhaps eight feet tall counting the antlers. In the manner of all beastmen, his eyes had a wild gleam and his face had taken on a feral quality,...

34. Barograd - Church Town

He felt the pieces of himself in motion, drawing nearer as fast as their wings would bear them. Two were close already, the others had to fly over from across the river. While he waited for those, he used the two who were close to begin an aerial ...

33. Barograd - Church Town

When he came to, which felt like reluctantly waking from a long and comfortable nap, he blinked his eyes open and realized…

He was airborne.

The impact knocked him out, and bounced him up into the air like a ball.

2024-10-11 06:48:56 +0000 UTC View Post

32. Barograd - Church Town

Drusilla’s Font

It was a sphere of Gnosis which, once Irina cast it, floated in the air between herself, Redmane and Radovid at about navel height. The Font was roughly the size of the cannonball that struck Redmane in the...

31. Barograd - Brandis Bridge

Laszlo and Stenn, Guardians of Brandis Bridge, Slain

Tasks Completed: 3/5

Level Up

Level 43 —> Level 44

Level 44 —> Level 45

30. Barograd - Brandis Bridge

Redmane rolled to his feet at the last possible instant before being chopped, clobbered and skewered at the same time.

To his sides, Radovid and Irina were engaged with the others. But he couldn’t pay attention to what they were doing, he ...

29. Barograd - Tradesmen's District

Redmane flew down the hill, ripping apart beastmen on his way and devouring their remains while they were still hot.

Corpus: 2132

The final team of them awaited him at the bottom of the slope, filling the air with the ...

28. Barograd - Tradesman's District

It took Redmane half the fight, and most of his Corpus, to get Agneszka the Stitcher to the point where she was emotionally compromised.

With Pavel it seemed he’d done so right away.

“What did you do to my wife?!”

His voic...

27 - Barograd - Tradesman's District

The woman was nude, and appeared to have fully grown to adulthood within the flower. She had light brown skin and blue-green hair, the color of spring’s first triumph over cold winter. Her face was as fair as her form, soft and refined, r...

26. Barograd - Undertaker

The blow sucked the air from Redmane’s lungs.

Corpus: 1410

Bleeding (3)

Blood bubbled up in his mouth, flowed over his chin and down his neck.

He looked down to see Agneszka’s sword pl...

25. Barograd - Undertaker

A pack of six Stitchwork Stalkers flew at him. Two Spiders were not far behind. And bringing up the rear was a howling brute with great clubs of bone for hands.

Redmane sprinted at them, past them. His claws scored through stitched flesh, s...

24. Barograd - Smith Street

Redmane’s feet hit the cobblestones on the tradesmen’s district in a dead sprint.

Evidently this part of town had become a battleground between two factions. Agneszka’s stitched horrors and Pavel’s black powder wielding beastmen. The...

23. Barograd - Watchtower

Redmane checked the description of the Skill to refresh his memory.

—

Spawn

Bloodline Skill [Monstrous (Gruu)]

Rank 1

Active - Variable Cost

The Monster is able to spawn smaller creatures out...

22. Barograd - Town Walls

Crossbow bolts whizzed by Redmane’s head as he sprinted for the watchtower.

The Stitchwork Spider climbed down the side of that tower to interpose itself between him and the guards posted behind and above. Unless Redmane found a way by, h...

21. Barograd - Town Walls

Redmane came to the outer wall of Barograd and looked up.

Dawn was close. The sky shone bright blue over the tops of the crenelations.

He’d come to this spot to scale the wall, begin with a good vantage point. Walking in the f...

20. Midva Forest - Umber's Hollow

Redmane’s body sailed free from the cone of flames. But the fire seared him deeply all the same, though he’d only been engulfed for a mere instant.

Corpus: 2586

That hurt.

It would be bad to be touche...

19. Midva Forest - Umber's Hollow

While Wargs chased down the last of the brigands, Redmane, Valtr and Vengarl entered the chapel to see to the captive townspeople.

Many broke out into tears of gratitude. Some began helping release the others the moment they were free. A few...

18. Midva Forest - Brigand Camp

In an instant, the quiet of the brigand camp had broken into the din of battle. Wargs tore into shouting beastmen. Somewhere above, Valtr and Vengarl sniped away at their quarry.

Redmane’s foes were right in front of him.

Two instead...

17. Midva Forest - Brigand Camp

The plan for the beastmen did not resemble the plan for the Gruu, but it sounded equally effective to Redmane.

They let night fall. Firelight took over the encampment in place of sunlight. Down by the longhouse they lit a big bonfire, a hand...

16. Midva Forest - Brigand Camp

Valtr and Vengarl returned briefly to their campsite to pack it in, and then they set out in a southeasterly direction with Redmane, the trio walking along casually under the noontime sun. Or what passed for it in Midva Forest. Even at its apex th...

15. Midva Forest - Gruu Burrows

The chamber of Grandmother Gruu was round and high of ceiling, its walls pocked all over with the circular entrances to tunnels great and small, the whole area illuminated in red by patches of the glowing moss that had led him here. The Grandmothe...

14. Midva Forest - Gruu Burrows

The brigand camp lay some miles to the southeast, but according to Valtr and Vengarl there were so many Gruu burrows between here and there that there might as well be a host of soldiers standing in the way.

“Soldiers would be preferable,�...

13. Midva Forest - Outskirts

The Great Gruu stretched out its wings and took flight, and Redmane realized in an instant of alarmed clarity what it intended to do.

It was going to pick him up and drop him into that mass of Gruu below.

He fled from it, turning and ...

12. Midva Forest - Outskirts

The narrow road beyond the drawbridge of Häerz Castle, which wound a few miles in a southron direction through Barograd, was walled in on either side by dark trees. They were tall and thick of trunk, and the way they twisted against each other ma...